St. Norbert Swarms Under Lawrence

APPLETON - St. Norbert College took another step toward clinching the Midwest Conference North Division title by dispatching Lawrence University 46-0 at Banta Bowl.

The Green Knights (6-1, 3-0 MWC North) held the Vikings (1-6, 0-3) to just 59 yards of total offense and four first downs on an evening with a brisk northwesterly wind sweeping across the field.

St. Norbert took control after a scoreless first quarter. Lawrence lost 17 yards to open a series, leading to Mike Olijnyk registering a safety on the next play. The Green Knights parlayed the short field into a touchdown drive, with Matt Galanopoulos corralling a 5-yard touchdown pass from Drew Rhodes for a 9-0 lead with 6:18 left in the second quarter.

The Green Knights then picked up a second safety after a punt snap went awry with 1:06 left before halftime. St. Norbert scored off the free kick again, traversing 74 yards in six plays and 48 seconds with Rhodes connecting with Drew Chavarria with a 41-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds left for an 18-0 halftime lead.

St. Norbert had the wind at its back in the third quarter and put the game away with three touchdowns. Galanopoulos scored on touchdown runs of 12 and 4 yards and Nate Ihlenfeldt followed with a five-yard run for a 39-0 lead. Colin Bursik's 8-yard run - his first collegiate touchdown - with 10:11 remaining accounted for the game's final points.

St. Norbert held Lawrence to minus-27 yards rushing, the sixth-best game against the run in school history. The Green Knights did not yield a first down, the first time that's happened since an 18-7 win over Lake Forest College on Oct. 5, 1985. The two safeties by the St. Norbert defense was just the second time in school history the Green Knights achieved that, the other in a 62-0 win over Lake Forest on Sept. 27, 2009.

The Green Knights recorded 426 yards of total offense, with 328 coming on the ground, and converted 10 of 16 third-down opportunities. St. Norbert rushed on 63 of their 78 offensive plays. Rhodes rushed 18 times for 102 yards, while Ihlenfeldt had 75 yards on 15 carries. Matt Vanden Heuvel had 11 carries for 59 yards, while Galanopoulos had 58 yards on nine rushes. Rhodes completed 8 of 15 passes for 98 yards.

Olijnyk and Matt Barrett had seven tackles apiece for the St. Norbert defense. Wyatt Lee, who was leading NCAA Division III in tackles coming into the game, posted a career-high 23 tackles for the Vikings.